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Scale model of Indian Ocean island allows scientists to assess the impact of rising sea levels

Scientists have built a 50-metre scale replica of a coral reef island to explore how its real-life counterparts might be impacted by rising sea levels. The model has been designed to mimic atoll islands in the Maldives and the Pacific Ocean, thought to be among the most vulnerable parts of the planet as the climate changes. Over the coming two months, it will be subjected to varying wave and sea-level conditions, with its response being intensely monitored using wave sensors, current meters, video cameras and laser scanners. Researchers hope the experiment, combined with fieldwork and numerical modelling, will give them an indication of precisely how the islands might respond if sea levels and the frequency of extreme weather events continue to increase. The experiment forms part of the ARISE project, a five-year £2.8million project led by the University of Plymouth and funded through UK Research and Innovation’s Horizon Europe Guarantee programme. With partners across the world, including organisations in the Maldives and the Pacific, the project is exploring the potential for the world’s low-lying coral atoll islands to survive predicted rises in sea level through natural flooding processes. Professor Gerd Masselink, Professor of Coastal Geomorphology at the University of Plymouth and lead of the ARISE project, said: “ It is virtually impossible to record waves washing over a real atoll island, because the chances of an extreme event occurring on an instrumented island is very rare – you’d have to be instrumenting at least tens of islands spread across the Maldives and the Pacific to ‘catch’ it. This scale model will give us the opportunity to run a controlled series of scenarios and monitor with a range of instruments how the island might respond in a variety of present and future sea conditions. Combined with other measurements from the field, we hope it will give us a clear understanding of if – and how – these communities can survive in future. ” The experiment is a collaboration between the University of Plymouth, Delft University of Technology, and Deltares. It will take place in the Deltares’ Delta Flume, the world’s largest wave flume. Measuring 300m long, 9m deep and 5m wide, and with the ability to generate waves up to 2m high, the flume is the perfect place for this particular experiment. It will also enable the researchers to evaluate the impact of artificial reef structures in reducing the energy of the waves reaching the island shoreline. Such structures are increasingly being used as eco-friendly coastal defences that provide habitats for marine life as well as protecting island shorelines. Dr Marion Tissier, Assistant Professor of Coastal Waves at Delft University of Technology, said: “ Coral reefs naturally protect atoll islands from wave-driven flooding, but unfortunately, they are degrading worldwide. This experiment provides a unique opportunity to investigate the efficiency of reef restoration for coastal protection. Up to 150 eco-friendly, complex-shaped artificial reef structures will be installed on the reef of the scale model, and their effect on the waves will be systematically analysed. The large scale of this experiment is essential, as it allows us to get a realistic picture of how water moves through these complex structures, and thus of how the structures influence the wave field and ultimately flooding at the island. ” Marion Tissier of TU Delft is leading the ‘Coral reef RESToration to reduce island flooding’ (CREST) project. This project is embedded into the experimental program ARISE, led by the University of Plymouth. CREST is funded by the Top consortium Knowledge and Innovation (TKI) Delta Technology. In this project she works together with Deltares, Boskalis and the reef 3D printing startup Coastruction. Read the news article about CREST Suzanna Zwanenburg, project leader of the Deltares Delta Flume, added: “ We have built a scale model of a reef platform with an atoll island in the Deltares Delta Flume. With this unique, experimental facility, we can generate the largest artificial waves in the world, which makes it the perfect place to assess the effect of waves washing over an atoll island. The model is equipped with numerous sensors, which gives us detailed information about the wave heights, velocities and pressures along the reef platform and the overwash over the atoll island. ” The new experiment is being launched weeks after scientists returned from the Maldives, where they deployed more than 80 individual instruments on the island of Dighelaabadhoo as they seek to capture in-depth information about the energetic wave conditions during southwest monsoon season in the Indian Ocean. The measurements generated by the instrumentation will constitute the largest field campaign ever to be staged on an atoll island, and the instruments will remain deployed until August.

SURF Onderwijsawards 2023

Ook dit jaar zijn de SURF Onderwijsawards uitgereikt, aan drie professionals die een grote bijdrage geleverd hebben aan de ict-vernieuwing in het Nederlandse onderwijs. Geheel terecht ontvingen Leon Sprooten (VISTA College), Timon Idema (TU Delft) en Diana Molenschot (Thomas More Hogeschool) de SURF Education Awards 2023 . Timon was een van de eersten die het belang inzag van open leermaterialen, en dit ook in de praktijk bracht. In 2018 publiceerde hij zijn eerste open textbook , voor de opleiding Nanobiology (TU Delft & Erasmus Universiteit). Met hulp van een bijdrage door de stimuleringsregeling van SURF heeft Timon daarna, met hulp van collega’s, een reeks open leermaterialen ontwikkeld voor de bachelor- en masteropleiding Nanobiology. Maar daar bleef het niet bij. Timon heeft ook een belangrijke bijdrage geleverd aan de ontwikkeling van een publicatiedienst voor open textbooks. Via deze dienst van de TU Delft kunnen docenten, met Jupyter Books, zelf open onderwijsliteratuur publiceren. Inmiddels bevat de catalogus al meer dan dertig open textbooks, zowel klassieke als interactieve. Onder leiding van Timon zijn er verder uitgebreide handleidingen, voorbeelden en templates gepubliceerd, zodat iedereen eigen interactieve open textbooks met Jupyter Books kan schrijven. Van de masteropleiding Nanobiology is TImon sinds 2020 opleidingsdirecteur. Collega’s over Timon: Timon is het lichtende voorbeeld van een docent die docenten stimuleert om hun leermaterialen te innoveren en open te delen. Hij begrijpt dat docenten de meeste waarde hechten aan tools die zijn ontwikkeld door mensen die zelf docent zijn. Verder betrekt hij docenten én studenten actief bij zijn projecten. Alles wat hij ontwikkelt legt hij voor aan collega’s en studenten, bijvoorbeeld in workshops of conferentiepresentaties. Zo krijgt hij waardevolle feedback waarmee hij het resultaat nog beter laat aansluiten op de wensen van zijn doelgroep. Zodat docenten en studenten het waardevol vinden voor hun werk of opleiding.

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